Scrapers are used to load and transport large volumes of earth or other 3,533,174 A scraper typically has a cutting edge for cutting the material and a bowl for holding and transporting the cut material. To effectively utilize the load holding and transporting capacity of the bowl, an auger is provided to distribute the cut material as the cut material enters the bowl. Such auger scrapers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,74 which issued on Oct. 13, 1970 to Walter Carston and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,190 which issued on Dec. 31, 1974 to James E. Gee and Robert N. Stedman.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,174 the leading or cutting edge of the auger is spaced from the cutting edge of the scraper and from the floor or the bowl. The leading edge extends outwardly over the scraper cutting edge. During operation, oversized material and rocks sometimes become lodged in the space between the auger and bowl floor. When this happens the loading cycle must be interrupted to dislodge the material resulting in a loss of efficiency.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,190 the leading edge of the auger is positioned close to the bowl floor which reduces the possibility of lodging material between the auger and floor. However, the leading edge extends outwardly over the bowl cutting edge. As the auger rotates, material is met by the leading edge and sometimes trapped between the leading edge and bowl floor. The leading edge closes in on the material and traps it which sometimes damages the leading edge. The trapped material has to be removed before the loading can continue.
The augers extend outwardly over the cutting edge to effectively load the material into the bowl in the desired manner. The augers are mounted on the bowl floor in such a manner that there is a space between the leading edge and the bowl floor. It is therefore desirable to have an auger scraper which diverts cut material away from the space which exists between the floor and auger and which prevents material from lodging between the leading edge and bowl floor without interfering with the effectiveness of the auger.